]]>The post Signing of the Anishinabek Nation Education Agreement appeared first on APTN News.
]]>B.C. orders more people to flee as wildfire situation deteriorateshttps://www.aptnnews.ca/uncategorized/b-c-orders-more-people-to-flee-as-wildfire-situation-deteriorates/
Mon, 10 Jul 2017 11:51:30 +0000http://test.aptnnews.ca/?p=77605Angie Thorne hugged her granddaughter as she looked for the first time at the blackened pit where her home of 21 years had stood just days earlier.

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]]>Minister says damages for 60’s Scoop will be dealt with on case by case basishttps://www.aptnnews.ca/uncategorized/minister-says-damages-for-60s-scoop-will-be-dealt-with-on-case-by-case-basis/
https://www.aptnnews.ca/uncategorized/minister-says-damages-for-60s-scoop-will-be-dealt-with-on-case-by-case-basis/#commentsThu, 15 Jun 2017 22:58:13 +0000http://test.aptnnews.ca/?p=76098Canada's Minister of Indigenous Affairs Carolyn Bennett told the House of Commons Thursday that the damages awarded to Ontario 60's scoop survivors will be done on a case by case basis.

]]>Beverly AndrewsAPTN National News
Canada’s Minister of Indigenous Affairs Carolyn Bennett told the House of Commons Thursday that the damages awarded to Ontario 60’s scoop survivors will be done on a case by case basis.

In February of 2017, an Ontario judge ruled that Canada failed in its fiduciary duty to protect the culture of thousands of First Nations children taken from their families and put in non-Indigenous homes.

After the ruling, Canada said it would not appeal but negotiate a settlement.

Some survivors say the government is putting up roadblocks to avoid paying what is owed.

“The crown’s initial position which caused us grave concern was their submission that in fact, the judges ruling in February did not establish causation, which is a fancy way of saying – hadn’t really established that the breach of the agreement rendered the federal government liable for damages,” said Morris Cooper, the groups lawyer.

But Bennett said no two claims are the same and they must be worked out on their own.

“Taking action on the outstanding claim childhood claim and I have a mandate to negotiate with all sixty scoop plaintiffs as the courts have clearly laid out,” Bennett told the House. “No two experiences are the same, no two voices are identical, we believe that each individual deserves the justice they are entitled too.”

]]>The Canadian Press
BISMARCK, N.D. _ The developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, which is expected to begin shipping oil on Thursday, will face scrutiny later this summer on whether it violated North Dakota rules during construction.

The three-member North Dakota Public Service Commission is looking into whether Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners removed too many trees and shrubs along the pipeline route, and whether it improperly reported the discovery of Native American artifacts. No artifacts were disturbed.

ETP maintains it didn’t intentionally do anything wrong in either case. If the commission ultimately decides differently, the company could be subject to tens of thousands of dollars in fines, though it could fight them in state court.

Regulators decided during a Wednesday meeting to hold hearings on back-to-back days in either July or August. A decision on fines would come sometime after that.

The $3.8 billion pipeline will move North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a distribution point in Illinois.

The pipeline prompted hundreds and sometimes thousands of Native American and environmental activists to camp in North Dakota to protest, saying it would disturb sacred sites and could pollute water used by Native Americans. President Donald Trump’s administration and the courts eventually allowed the pipeline to be completed.

The commission maintains the company diverted construction of the pipeline around artifacts last October without first running the plan by the commission, as required. The company did get clearance from the State Historic Preservation Office and maintains it acted in good faith.

In addition, a third-party inspector identified 83 sites along the 380-mile (610-kilometre) pipeline corridor in North Dakota where trees or shrubs might have been cleared in violation of the commission’s orders. ETP says it did nothing wrong, and the company has a plan to plant two trees for every one removed _ a total of about 94,000 trees.

“The reason we have regulations regarding trees and shrubs in North Dakota is that they’re hard to grow, especially in western North Dakota,” Fedorchak said.

]]>Dakota Access pipeline, law officers had close relationship https://www.aptnnews.ca/uncategorized/dakota-access-pipeline-law-officers-had-close-relationship/
https://www.aptnnews.ca/uncategorized/dakota-access-pipeline-law-officers-had-close-relationship/#commentsWed, 31 May 2017 02:08:44 +0000http://test.aptnnews.ca/?p=74901A private security firm hired by the developer of the $3.8 billion Dakota AccessPipeline conducted an aggressive, multifaceted operation against protesters that included a close working relationship with public law enforcement, documents obtained by an online magazine indicate.

]]>The Canadian Press
BISMARCK, N.D. – A private security firm hired by the developer of the $3.8 billion Dakota AccessPipeline conducted an aggressive, multifaceted operation against protesters that included a close working relationship with public law enforcement, documents obtained by an online magazine indicate.

Native American groups that opposed the pipeline say the report from The Intercept lends credence to their belief that law enforcement favoured private industry in the monthslong dispute. But law enforcement and Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners say their concern was everyone’s safety.

The Dakota Access pipeline will move North Dakota oil to a distribution point in Illinois. ETP plans to begin commercial operations Thursday. The company says the pipeline is safe, but opponents fear environmental harm.

Thousands of protesters last year descended on a camp set up in North Dakota near a section of the pipeline that runs under a Missouri River reservoir upstream from the Standing Rock Siouxreservation. Pipeline opponents frequently clashed with police, and 761 arrests happened between August and February.

The documents show that ETP hired security firm TigerSwan, which was founded by retired military special forces members. The Intercept posted some of the documents it obtained online. It said it received more than 100 documents from a TigerSwan contractor and more than 1,000 through public records requests.

TigerSwan used military-style counter-terrorism measures against what it considered “an ideologically driven insurgency,” the documents show. Its tactics included protest camp flyovers, video surveillance, social media monitoring, public relations _ described in one document as “pro-DAPL propaganda” _ and interactions with law enforcement. That included placing a liaison in the law enforcement operations centre.

The relationship was heavily criticized Tuesday by the Lakota People’s Law Office.

“Rather than one-sidedly protecting the private interests of oil corporations, these state and federal law enforcement agencies should have been also protecting the constitutional rights of those who were being criminally conspired against, disrupted, and physically attacked by the oil company’s private mercenary army of Middle East-based anti-terrorist specialists,” Chief Counsel Daniel Sheehan said in a statement.

Indigenous Environmental Network organizer Dallas Goldtooth said in a statement that “police and security were essentially given permission to carry out war-like tactics” on protesters.

One particularly violent clash happened in late November, when protesters trying to push past a blocked highway bridge were turned back by authorities using tear gas, rubber bullets and water sprays. Police said protesters were throwing rocks, asphalt and water bottles at officers.

The Morton County Sheriff’s Office, which spearheaded the response to the protests, said its communications with TigerSwan security weren’t unusual and “gave law enforcement situational awareness in order to monitor and respond to illegal protest activity.”

ETP said in a statement that “the safety of our employees and the communities in which we live and work is our top priority. In order to ensure that we do have security plans in place, we do communicate with law enforcement agencies as appropriate.”

]]>https://www.aptnnews.ca/uncategorized/dakota-access-pipeline-law-officers-had-close-relationship/feed/1Mud Lake Labrador residents skeptical province will get to the root cause of floodinghttps://www.aptnnews.ca/uncategorized/mud-lake-labrador-residents-skeptical-province-will-get-to-the-root-cause-of-flooding/
Wed, 24 May 2017 02:49:21 +0000http://test.aptnnews.ca/?p=74531A long-time resident and community leader in Mud Lake is skeptical that the Newfoundland and Labrador premier will follow through on promises to investigate a recent flood.